On January 22, ESL announced the disqualification of NAVI Junior from ESL One Raleigh 2025 due to the use of a smoke bug. This decision sparked a heated reaction in the Dota 2 community, leading to an investigation by the tournament operator and the disqualification of two more teams. However, questions about the transparency of the investigation and the fairness of the punishment remain open.

Incident Details

After the qualification stage, NAVI Junior secured a slot by defeating AVULUS. However, a few days later, ESL announced their disqualification, replacing them with AVULUS.

The bug involved allowed a player to drag the smoke icon into the enemy's inventory to see if it had been used, even if the hero did not appear on the map. This could indeed provide an advantage, but ESL rushed and announced the disqualification of only one team without thoroughly investigating the issue.

More details on the incident's timeline and the community's reaction can be found in our special article.

Justification of the Punishment and Inconsistencies by ESL

Following the community's strong reaction, ESL announced they would conduct an investigation. In the letter revealing the results, it does not explain how the evidence was gathered and much more. The outcome was the disqualification of NAVI Junior, Aurora Gaming, and 9Pandas.

ESL's decision to disqualify was based on repeated use of the bug; however, the number of times alone does not justify penalizing teams that used the bug only a few times. Using the bug in a critical moment could provide a greater advantage than multiple uses in insignificant situations. Furthermore, many other teams also used this bug but were penalized less harshly.

According to official ESL data:

• Systematic abuse: 9Pandas (160 times), NAVI Junior (115 times), Aurora Gaming (50 times) — disqualification.
• Moderate abuse: Tundra Esports (9 times), Team Spirit (7 times) — received warnings and fines.
• Minimal use: Wildcard, Shopify Rebellion, Natus Vincere — no penalties.

This raises the question: why did ESL not conduct a thorough investigation immediately, checking all teams, and only after community pressure did they publish broader results? Why were NAVI Junior, Aurora Gaming, and 9Pandas disqualified, while others were not?

On January 31, the club Natus Vincere released a comment on all their social media regarding the situation at ESL One Raleigh:

Yesterday, it was announced that ESL decided to disqualify the NAVI Junior roster from qualifying for ESL One Raleigh 2025 following an investigation into our players using the smoke bug. Our team was deemed more guilty than the other 30 teams using this bug in regional qualifications.

As it turned out, using the bug is still allowed, but only limited — and if you are Tundra or Spirit :)

In defense of the team, we want to note that before the start of the qualification, ESL admins did not warn about the ban on this bug's use, which led to its widespread use. For instance, during the last qualification for PGL Wallachia, PGL tournament operator admins informed teams in advance about the inadmissibility of using the smoke bug. To our knowledge, the tournament took place without bug abuse.

Considering all the above, we are disappointed with the unfair decision by ESL but are forced to accept it.

Natus Vincere

Limited Transparency of the Investigation

ESL claims to have conducted a detailed investigation, but its details remain unknown:

• How exactly was the evidence gathered?
• Did NAVI Junior, Aurora Gaming, and 9Pandas have the opportunity to defend their position?
• Why does the punishment differ significantly between teams, even though they all used the same bug?

A transparent investigation could have strengthened trust in the company, but its absence only intensifies doubts about the fairness of the decision. Drawing a parallel with football, one can foul multiple times in a match and get sent off, or break an opponent's leg once in the 85th minute and also get sent off. So why does it not work the same way in esports? Where is Fair Play?

Do Big Teams and Sponsors Influence ESL?

There is an opinion that ESL may make decisions under the influence of top teams or sponsors. Similar instances have occurred in esports, where tournament organizers acted in favor of more popular teams. For example, in 2020 in CS:GO, after using the Spectator Bug, the team HEROIC was immediately penalized, while investigations regarding other participants dragged on for 8-9 months, allowing teams to avoid serious consequences.

The disqualification of NAVI Junior immediately after a complaint raises suspicions of selective justice by ESL. To avoid accusations of bias, it would have been logical to apply the same sanctions to all teams.

Community and Expert Reactions

Analyst, commentator, and coach of the team Jigglin, TeaGuvnor, commented on the situation on his social media account in X:

Smokes can secure a decisive battle or key kill during a comeback. It is undoubtedly the MOST valuable item in Dota 2. It was not the kind of bug for which teams should be penalized based on the number of uses, but rather on how they used it. One smoke is enough to affect the game, or one bug use.

TeaGuvnor in X

The coach of Falcons, Aui_2000, also shared his thoughts, commenting on bugs in Dota 2 and the situation with NAVI Junior:

I do not believe that NAVI Junior deserves disqualification. I would prefer that no one received punishment for these qualifications. Rules and standards should have been clearly explained to everyone.

Aui_2000 in Medium

Aui_2000 believes there is no clear boundary in "abusing" bugs - they have become an integral part of game mechanics. Tournament operators are required to: introduce rules and inform teams about bans on bug usage.

Bafik, a well-known Dota 2 analyst, also expressed his opinion in response to ESL's official post in X:

You are as dumb as a cork if you do not understand what @ESLDota2 did with their "investigation". They disqualified NAVI immediately after AVULUS reported the bug used against them. They did not review 100 cases; they just disqualified for that match. It took 1 day. When proof about other teams was sent to them, they realized they messed up, and by that logic, they should have disqualified other teams. Instead, they found a "solution" and told you: "NAVI used more, others used less". They are making fools of you, and some, for some reason, believe it.

Bafik in X

How ESL Should Have Acted

Instead of selectively disqualifying several teams, ESL should have applied a single, fair approach to all participants who used the bug. The best solution would have been to impose equal penalties on everyone who took advantage of the bug, regardless of the number of uses.

This could have been:

• A financial penalty in the form of a deduction from prize money.
• Starting the group stage with a negative number of points.
• A deduction of ESL points, which directly affects invitations to tournaments, qualifications, etc.

It's too late for match replays, but applying the same penalty to all teams would have ensured fairness and avoided accusations of double standards. Such a decision would have allowed ESL to maintain community trust and avoid future scandals due to inconsistent decision-making in similar situations.